11 Harriers turned out for the final? (and 81st) race in our annual challenge, and were rewarded with a lovely day for a run round the water. Thankfully all we had to do was run 2.5k round the edge, while the ‘Great Scottish Swimmers’ were bravely doing their miles in the water. The swimming crowd did however make finding a parking space a tad more difficult.
After the warm up we lined up on the grass to start. The announcer gave us Maryhill Harriers a special mention as we were out in force – we responded with what was quite frankly a fairly pathetic cheer, and then we were off.
Andrew Stevenson started like a young man after my own heart and for the first half kilometer was leading Gordon (who I’m pretty sure was getting worried). Gordon gradually allowed his new lean streamline frame to settle into his ridiculously fast pace, and from then on he became a little blue dot vanishing into the distance.
I had been advised by one of the organisers to stick with the guy in the bright orange t-shirt as he was the 20min pacer. Needless to say I ran off in front of him, and never saw him till the finish. Not sure what I did the first k in but got to 2k in 7:45 so was on a good pace, hit 3k in 11:45, and 4k in 15:45, so was managing to keep it going. The last kilometer was literally the longest of my life. It was into a slight headwind (but nothing you could really complain about), but it just went on and on. I kept trying to up my pace but my legs just felt dead and gave nothing in response. I wasn’t losing ground on those in front but I certainly wasn’t gaining any. Eventually the finish came. As I collapsed just over the line, I turned round and sure enough, there was the guy in the bright orange top just behind me. Having taken 5 second off my pb, however, I felt justified in going that little bit faster.
Maryhill Harriers got some fantastic placings on the day, including 3 pbs:
Andrew was 1st JM14
Heather was 2nd JW14
Gordon was 7th Male
and Caroline was 3rd Female
Full results listed below:
7 Gordon CURRAN (pb), 18:18 SM35-39 M 7 Maryhill Harriers/Strathclyde Fire Brigade
18 Stephen JONES (pb), 19:41 SM30-34 M 17 Maryhill Harriers
28 Andrew STEVENSON, 21:36 JM14 M 26 Maryhill Harriers
32 Caroline JONES, 21:59 SW30-34 F 3 Maryhill Harriers
44 Kenneth STEVENSON, 23:18 VM50-54 M 39 Maryhill Harriers
51 Holly DEAR (pb), 23:46 SW25-29 F 6 Maryhill Harriers
60 Chris HEVER, 24:08 VM45-49 M 53 Maryhill Harriers
67 Linda Jane SINCLAIR, 24:59 VW40-44 F 10 Maryhill Harriers
74 Heather STEVENSON, 25:40 JW14 F 12 Maryhill Harriers
77 Margaret PEEBLES, 25:55 VW45-49 F 13 Maryhill Harriers
83 Laura MUIRHEAD, 26:41 SW25-29 F 16 Maryhill Harriers
There were 140 runners in total.
